Shoe sewing machine



' 1942' R. E. HOOD SHOE SEWING MACHINE Muz- Inventor #7714 WWY Witness M 7 m Patented Dec. 1, 1942 UNITED STA ES PATENT OFFICE SHOE SEWING MACHINE Roy .E. Hood, Lynn, Mass, assignor to United Shoe Machinery Corporation, Borough of Flemington, N. 1., a corporation of New Jersey Application March 28, 1939, Serial No. 264,574

4 Claims. (c1. 112-47) The present invention relates to-shoe sewing machines, and more particularly. to improvements in machines for use in sewing reinforcing seams about sole insert members in athletic shoes and the like. I

In the manufacture of track shoes and related types of footwear provided with projecting spikes or other sole insert members, the head or flange portion with which the usual insert is provided is interposed between the inner and the outer soles of the shoe, with the bodyof the insert extending through, and, in the case of a track shoe, with the spike projecting from theouter face of the sole. In order that such inserts may be securely held in position in the shoe, individual reinforcing seams are generally sewn about the inserts in order to clamp the flange portions thereof .firmly between the parts of the shoe sole, supplementing the usual seam around the edge of the sole.

Where, as is generally the case, the insert members are provided with circular heads or flanges, the reinforcing seams are preferably arcuate in configuration, being spaced as nearly as possible a uniform distance from the center of the insert both for the sake of appearance and to hold the inserts as securely as possible. Since the line of stitching is necessarily in a. curve of relatively small radius, the work must be rapidly rotated as it is fed about the insert during the formation of the seam, with consequent dificulty in accurately guiding the work to maintain the seam line at the proper distance from the. insert.

It is the object, therefore, of the present invention to provide a sewing machine which'will obviate the difiiculties heretofore encounteredin sewing a, reenforcing seam around a shoe sole insert member and which will enable the production of a seam of uniform configuration, concentric with the insert member, while requiring only a minimum of skill and effort on the part of the operator to guide and manipulate the work.

To this end, there is provided in a sewing machine for sewing a seam around an insert member in shoe soles means arranged to engage a.

projecting portion of the insert member and to position the same in predetermined relation to the sewing pointso that the member acts as a fulcrum about which the work is swung by the work feeding devices to space the seam a uniform distance from the insert. More specifically, a feature of the invention involves the provision in a sole sewing machine for sewing around spiked insert members in track shoe soles and the like,

ing spike of an insert and cause the spike to act as a fulcrum while the work is rotated to sew around the insert.

The invention is embodied, for purposes of illustration, in a sole sewing machine of the Mcv Kay type employing a, straight hook needle and a shoe supporting horn, the machine being similar to those illustrated and described in U. S. Letof a, presser foot adapted to receive the project- 55 ters Patent Nos. 1,885,927, issued Nov. 1, 1932, to Bernard T. Leveque, and 1,914,936, issued June 20, 1933, to Fred Ashworth. The invention is not limited, however, to use in machines constructed and arranged as described in the above patents, but may be employed to advantage in machines of other constructions and arrangement and such use shall be deemed within the scope of the invention.

In the drawing illustrating the preferred embodiment of the invention, Figure 1 is a view in front elevation of a portion of the head of a Mc- Kay lockstitch sewing machine adjacent the sewing point, together with a portion of the work supporting horn and with the work being operated upon shown in section; Figure 2 is a plan view of a presser foot constructed in accordance with the invention and shown in operative relation to a track shoe sole having spike inserts, one of the spikes being engaged by the presser foot as in sewing around said insert; and Figure 3 is a detail view in left side elevation, partly in section, taken on the line 3-3 of Figure 2, showing the spike insert member positioned in the ing whirl. The machine is likewise provided with a straight hook needle 8, feed point 10, shuttle l2, and loop spreader I l. The presser foot 16', hereinafter more fully described, is provided with a slotted block l8 adjustably secured by means of stud 23 to the grooved under surface of a block 22 on the. lower end of the presser foot bar 24. The work engaging portion of the presser foot is indicated at 26 and is forked, as shown in Figure 2, to provide a passage within which the feed point may operate to advance the work past the sewing point, in accordance with the usual practice.

The work on which the machine of the invention is well adapted to operate is illustrated as a track shoe sole having an inner sole 28, outer sole 3B and half sole 32, which insert members having circular heads or flanges 34 and projecting spike portions 36, the flanges being interposed between inner sole 28 and outsole 30, and the spike portions projecting through outer soles 30 and 32. These inserts are secured in the shoe sole by individual reenforcing seams sewn around the inserts close to the edge of the flanges, these individual seams being sewn either before or after the upper is attached by the usual outsole seam around the edge of the shoe. In the drawing, the reenforcing seams have been sewn prior to the attachment of the upper, these seams being indicated at 38 and the channel for the outsole seam at 4B.

To insure that the reenforcing seams may be spaced a predetermined uniform distance from the center of each insert member, the presser foot is constructed to engage and position the spike portion of an insert so that the sole, during the sewing operation, is caused to rotate about the spike as a center, thus forming, with a minimum of effort on the part of the operator, uniform arcuate seams as shown. For this purpose the presser foot has integrally formed therewith a lug portion 42' provided with an aperture 44 into which the spike portion of an insert member may extend and within which the spike may freely rotate. The'underside of lug 42 is somewhat above the plane of the work engaging face of the clamping portion 26 of the presser foot so as to clear the surface of the shoe sole when the presser foot is in clamped position, thus en-- abling the entire clamping pressure of the presser foot tobe applied to the work close to the sewing point and just outside the edge of the flange 34 of the insert member.

Ln order that the feed point may readily advance the work to cause the shoe sole to rotate about the spike as a center, the direction of movement of the feed point should coincide, as nearly as possible, with the direction of movement of that portion of the work engaged thereby. The spike-receiving aperture 44 in the lug 42 is accordingly so positioned relative to the sewing point as to fix the center of rotation of the work on a line substantially perpendicular to the direction of work feed at said sewing point, as shown in Figure 2. As a result, there occurs during a work advancing stroke of the feed point I no appreciable deviation from the line of feed of that portion of the work engaged by the feed point, while the formation of each stitch likewise occurs substantially in this same line notwithstanding the relatively small radius of curvature of the seam.

The presser foot, during each stitch forming cycle, is lifted slightly from the surface of the work to unclamp the same during feed, as described in Patent No. 1,914,936 above referred to,

this movement taking place without disengaging the lug 42 from the spike, since the usual track shoe spike projects a substantial distance from the shoe sole. The mechanism for lifting the presser foot at the end of a seam must, however, be adjusted in the manner provided in the machine of the above referred to patents to cause the presser foot to lift somewhat higher than customary, in order that the lug 42 may clear the tip of the spike when the work is inserted and removed from the machine. After positioning the work on the horn with the spike vertically aligned with the aperture 44, the presser foot is lowered to clamp the work, the spike thereupon becoming centered within the aperture in the lug 42. Though free to rotate within the lug, the spike is thus held against bodily displacement relative to the sewing point, the sole and spike insert rotating together during the sewing operation about the center of the insert toproduce a smooth arcuate seam just outside the flange of the insert. Since the work is both positively positioned and positively guided during the sewing of the seam, the operator need only steady the work and see that the seam is begun and termihated at the proper points, so as not to intersect I another seam line.

Havingthus described the invention, and an embodiment thereof having been described, what is claimed is:

1. A shoe sewing machine having, in combination with the stitch forming and work feeding devices, a presser-foot having a work clamping portion adjacent the sewing point and a perforated lug at one side thereof adapted to receive the spike of a sole insert member projecting from a shoe sole and cause the sole to be rotated on the spike as a fulcrum by the work feeding devices to locate the seam in a circular are about the spike, said lug, while engaging the spike, permitting movement of the presser foot to clamp and unclamp the work. I

2. A shoe sewing machine having, in combination with the stitch forming and work feeding devices, a presser-foot having a work clamping portion adapted to engage the work adjacent the sewing point and a lug at one side of the work clamping portion and above the work clamping face thereof, adapted to engage the spike of a sole insert member projecting from a shoe sole and cause the sole to be swung about the spike as a fulcrum by the work feeding devices to space the seam a uniform distance from the spike.

3. A shoe sewing machine, having in combination, a work support arranged to extend within a shoe, stitch forming devices including a needle arranged to pass through the shoe sole from the outside into the shoe on the work support, a work feeding device engaging the outside of the shoe sole in line with the needle in the direction of feed, and means located at one side of the line offeed constructed to engage a spike projecting from the shoe sole and hold the spike from bodily displacement and cause the work with the spike to be rotatedabout the spike as a center by the work feeding device.

4. A shoe sewing machine, having in combination, a work support arranged to extend within a shoe, stitch forming. devicesincluding a needle arranged to pass through the shoesole from the outside into the shoe on the work support, a work feeding device engaging the outside of the shoe sole, and means located at one side of the needle transversely of the line of feedeonstructedto engage a spike projecting from the shoe sole and hold the spike from bodily displacement and cause the work with the spike to be rotated about the spike as a center by the work feeding device.

ROY E. HOOD. 

